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When it was released, AI was touted as Stanley Kubrick's last film; the story of a robot whose only desire is to be real.But the master's involvement was merely at the development stage; he bequeathed a plotless synopsis to blockbuster king Steven Spielberg before he passed away.

Based around a short story by sci-fi writer Brian Aldiss but with a script written by Spielberg himself, the movie follows acouple struggling to come to terms with their son's terminal illness. The film starts well, even if the pace is a little slow, asthey decide to adopt the first in a new line of android children. Robo-boy, David - played excellently by The Sixth Sense's Haley Joel Osment - begins to learn about the world as his new parents become increasingly attached to him.

But things take a sinister turn when their son's illness is cured and David has a new competitor for his mother's affections. The familiar Kubrick theme of desensitised emotions raises its head as, like Hal in 2001, David becomes increasingly human and society increasingly mechanised. In the end, though, David's parents are left with a chilling decision to make; one of their children must go.

Inevitably, it is David who draws the short straw, and in one of the film's few truly emotional scenes, adoptive mother Monica (Frances O'Connor) decides to dump him by the roadside rather than see him returned to the factory to be destroyed. The boy is left alone in the forest, in tears, with only his toy bear Teddy (voiced by Jack Angel) for company and guidance.

At this point A.I. turns into a fairly bog-standard road movie, as David beings his search to regain Monica's love. Deciding that he isn't happy being a robot, he picks up advice from love mecha Gigolo Joe (a charismatic Jude Law) and looks for a way to make himself flesh.

It's here that the movie changes tack, and gets caught up in an overlong and convoluted story that loses its way. The haunting possibilities brought up earlier in the movie are soured by indelible fingerprint of Steven Spielberg's sugary-sweet touch.Even at the conclusion of the film, the viewer is confused and cheated - as the host of false endings only serve to disappoint.

Had Kubrick lived, you feel he would have made something darker and more exploratory. The first third of the movie, exploring David's new life, is certainly genuinely disturbing in comparsion to the garish succession of images that follow. It's a film that never quite works - though it's not far from success - mainly because both directors havealready walked this ground with

If it's the tale of a lost child you're after, E.T. - now twenty years old - is a far superior effort. And if it's pure Bladerunner-style science fiction you want, then Kubrick (2001: A Space Odyssey) and Spielberg (Minority Report) have proved themselves to be among the masters of the genre.

Perhaps you'd be better looking to their other works than going too far into this mish-mash of ideas and styles. (BJ)